My 3 yr old has been screaming at least once a night for the past month. My husband goes in there and calms him and says that he isn't even awake. When he does scream it is usually with words and not just crying. Then he tells me in the morning that he had a bad dream about monsters. Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this? What do I do?
It doesn't sound all that abnormal. My daughter went through the "monster phase" (including the bad dreams) when she was 2 1/2. I think all kids go through it.
Hi E..
Most kids Ive known have gone through this.
I agree with Debbies suggestions for wellness support
AND I agree with the method of teaching the child
to speak aloud what had been scaring them.
I taught my kids that if they told me,
it would be gone (a bit of a purging).
Also, if you have any spiritual concepts
which you are teaching, you can offer them support in that way too. By this I mean, that for my kids, they were taught to "call for help in their dream." For my kids, it was their beloved Dead folks. For your kids, it might be angels, or saints or goddesses/gods; whatever your thing is.
I also read of a mom once (I think it was here on Mamasource) who had a Monster Spray her kids used to banish their fears. I think she had some lavender oil (good for a calming effect) mixed in with water, in a spray bottle.
My son will be 4 in October and went through a similar phase. One thing that helped was asking him to tell me about the monsters. It turned out that he had a different perception of monsters than I did. He seems very sensitive to anyone getting hurt or being sad so even simple cartoons seemed to upset him - example - on Super Why - there was a story about the Three Billy Goats Gruff - he thought the troll was scary and was afraid to watch it. Super Why is a PBS cartoon and not one I would think scary but in his mind it was. I also read somewhere that this is the age where they begin to develop an imagination. Their perception of things can be VERY different than ours - the example given was that to someone that age the idea that a friend took a toy car away is the equivalent to an adult having their car stolen. Seems rather extreme but I guess that is part of the development.
Good Luck with these dreams - hopefully they end soon. Also, best of luck with your pregnancy and new arrival - that will bring on a whole new set of issues to deal with - not all scary, some can be funny! Enjoy it!
Sounds like Night Tremmors to me. Not much you can do except make sure he is okay. He is really a sleep and dreaming but looks like he is a wake. My son did this for 4-5 weeks when he was just about to turn 3. I started asking him what he was dreaming about and he would come back with some weird story - something about a dinosaur or bear or some kind of animal. It was never the same. I just started explaining to him that it was just a dream and one day they just stopped - just as the Dr. said it would. It is horrible to see, but it will go away.
Sam
not enough B vits will give nightmares, sugar, and/or a diet missing necessary things will give nightmares. Since he is having them really take a good look- no fast food, check out WestonPrice Foundation.com
no sugarnosugarnosugar
best of luck-k
Hi
I think it is normal.
We go through the same thing with our son (soon to be 4 in August). He has done it for about 18 months now. It goes in phases. For him it relates to anxiety about trying something new or monsters.
For the monster thing, we make sure he doesn't watch much tv or any movies (he doesn't like any movies). We also took him to buy a 'special' monster spray bottle. We mixed water with a spice or two and put it in the spray bottle. This 'special' mixture is for him to spray when he sees monsters. We usually spray his room at night before bed, assure him there are no monsters but if he sees one in his dream to tell it to go away. (kind of teaching him to stand up for himself and learn that he can control his dreams).
When he wakes up crying/screaming, we just go in, soothe him, calm him down and hug him, remind him he is safe and hold his hand for minute (sometimes he asks us to stay longer).
Our guys also has growing pains in his legs, so sometimes this is the reason he is screaming. I go in, rub his legs and if it is really bad give him a dose of motrin.
Hyland's calming tablets also work for a homeopathic measure.
Best wishes with your second on the way. You are right experiencing new adventures with these little boys is fun!
E.,
My husband and I have a chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy and nutrition practice and I have seen the addition of a B-Vitamin supplement make a big difference in how well children sleep at night. Most children will no longer experience nightmares. You will need to go to your health food store and look for a Complete B-Vitamin formula for children. Whatever formula you use make sure it contains no synthetic vitamins. Synthetic Vitamins can be toxic and do not work as well. I hope you find this helpful. It is not an instant fix it may take a couple of weeks to see the results but it works very well.
Deb Krusing
